MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 19th Asian Games men’s basketball after an 80-41 rout of Qatar on Monday afternoon at the ZJU Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China.
Jaymar Perez and June Mar Fajardo top-scored for the Philippine team with 12 points apiece, while Calvin Oftana contributed 11 markers in the win.
Justin Brownlee tallied nine points in almost eight minutes of action before sitting out from second quarter onwards as Gilas Pilipinas prepares for their quarterfinals encounter with Iran at 12 noon today.
Gilas Pilipinas waxed hot in the opening period. They zoomed to a 26-8 advantage behind inside conversions from Brownlee and Fajardo and outside connections from Oftana and Arvin Tolentino.
Even with Brownlee sitting on the bench, the Philippine men’s basketball team continued to pour it on behind Perez, Fajardo and Oftana as the lead reached 73-30 after three quarters.
Nedim Muslic was the lone double-digit scorer for Qatar with 12 points as they exited the tournament following the lopsided defeat.
Meanwhile, the Gilas Pilipinas women basketball team proved no match against world power Japan. It found itself at the other end of a lopsided defeat, 96-59, at the Olympic Sports Centre gymnasium on Sunday night.
The Patrick Aquino-mentored Filipina cagebelles played catch up the entire game after falling behind by as many as 35-14 in the opening period. Japan led by as many as 39 points on the way to the wire-to-wire win.
Japan finished their Group B assignment with a perfect 3-0 win-loss slate, while the Gilas Pilipinas women fell to a 2-1 record but nonetheless clinched a berth in the quarterfinal round.
Aika Hirashita finished with 27 points to lead Japan, while Saki Hayashi added 17 markers. Only Janine Pontejos scored in double digits for Gilas Pilipinas women with 13 points./PN
BOX SCORE:
PHILIPPINES 80 — Perez 12, Fajardo 12, Oftana 11, Brownlee 9, Aguilar 9, Kouame 8, Alas 8, Tolentino 6, Thompson 3, Newsome 2, Lassiter 0, Ross 0.
QATAR 41 — Muslic 12, Ndoye 7, Mousa 5, Ndao 5, Lashin 4, Haracic 3, Advic 2, Dieng 2, Darwish 1, Abdelbaset 0, Talla 0, Hajar 0.
Quarterscores: 33-14, 57-23, 73-30, 80-41.
